Carmel woman billed $10,000 for 1 month of water

Monterey woman sloshed with $4,200 bill from Cal-Am

Everyone hates paying their bills. But two Central Coast women who live by themselves were splashed with monthly water bills that just did not add up.

Erin Dail, 22, of Monterey, received a $4,200 bill from her water company, California-American Water. Toni Ray, of Carmel Valley, was doused with a $9,800 bill from the same company.

Cal-Am told Ray she had to pay the enormous bill because she had a huge leak of 200,000 gallons of water in September.

If something in her house had leaked that much water, Ray said she'd have a sizable lake in her yard on Brookdale Drive. She also could have filled 10 swimming pools or more than 4,000 bathtubs with how much water Cal-Am said she used.

But Ray doesn't have a swimming pool, jacuzzi or koi fish pond -- not even a puddle.

Perplexed, Ray hired a plumber, who combed her house for leaks, and found none.

Five months later, Ray is still fighting the bill with Cal-Am, arguing there is no way her water meter correctly recorded her water usage.

Cal-Am bill collectors agreed to lower it to $2,300, under their "goodwill leak" policy.

The lower figure is more manageable, but still far above her regular $40 monthly water bill.

Cal-Am stood by its leak explaination and the accuracy of the meters that recorded Ray and Dail's water useages.

"We went out and checked the meter, and actually in this cirucmstance, we found that the meter was underreporting," Cal-Am Water spokeswoman Catherine Bowie told KSBW's Tom Miller.

According to Bowie, Ray should have been charged more than $9,800 for the month.

Cal-Am demanded that Dail pay her $4,300 bill from October, when, according to the meter installed at her house, she used 92,7000 gallons of water.

Dail, who is pregnant with twins, said she has never watered her lawn, and a plumber confirmed that she does not have any leaks.

After KSBW reported her story, Cal-Am agreed to reduce her bill by 80 percent and offically classify her water usage as "unexplained."